A HUGE wind farm project for Teesside that would form part of a £2bn steel community regeneration plan could get the go-ahead within weeks, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Sources close to the project confirmed last night that an announcement is imminent.

They said that the scheme, which was revealed by The Northern Echo on Wednesday, is much more advanced than had been realised.

Officials have already identified a brownfield site - thought to be land once used by the Anglo-Dutch group Corus - and the finishing touches are being put to plans. The site is believed to be in competition with a number of other derelict factory sites in the region, and sources say no final decision has been made.

However, the problems facing Teesside may swing the project decisively in the area's favour.

One of the benefits of a wind farm is that it could be built on contaminated land which is not appropriate for industrial development and does not have landscape or ecological value.

The proposal would also save the Government and regional development agencies from spending millions of pounds on decontamination.

A wind farm would be used for generating energy to supply the region in a way that helps the Government meet climate change targets.

There could also be opportunities to develop wildlife habitats around the wind farm.

And there could be manufacturing opportunities in making the turbines which are currently imported from Europe.

A source close to the project described the possible wind farm as exciting.

The source said: "We need to be developing our own clean energy source and so many of the best sites are in beautiful landscaped areas.

"It would bring a sense of hope where there is not a lot of hope.

"We would have our own cheap energy produced locally and it would attract other jobs and businesses to the area."

The Northern Echo is campaigning along with other newspapers in a bid to make Corus think again about its plans to drastically slim down its UK workforce by 6,000 jobs.

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